Bikes, panthers and poker: Motorcycle group deals winning hand for Florida panthers
By LANCE SHEARER
Originally published 03:19 p.m., November 20, 2010
Updated 06:15 p.m., November 20, 2010
Updated 06:15 p.m., November 20, 2010
NAPLES — Even when you’re Bad to the Bone, it’s nice to have friends.
In a seemingly unlikely pairing, the Bad to the Bone Brotherhood of Bikers teamed up with the Friends of the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge on Saturday. The two organizations got together at Harley-Davidson of Naples for the Panther Prowl Poker Run, combining motorcycles, card games and wildlife preservation.
It was Hog Heaven at the Harley-Davidson dealership on Pine Ridge Road as club members, guests and visitors checked in and registered for the run. Bikes by the score were lined up in the sun, and a low rumble filled the air as they came and went. Harleys were overwhelmingly the motorcycle of choice, and leather was the uniform of the day.
Bob Fogel wore badge-encrusted black leather vest fastened with chains and black fingerless gloves, in addition to his beard and shades. He looked like a character sent straight from central casting, but turned out to be an English teacher at Pine Ridge Middle School. He even recognized one of his former students, as she sat manning the registration booth for the Panther Refuge.
“We do all the charities,” Sonja Garland of Bad to the Bone said, “breast cancer, Bikers for Babies, Toys for Tots. You name it, we run it.”
Not a backseat hanger-on, Garland rides her own 1200 custom Harley. “My husband doesn’t share toys,” she laughed. “Instead of getting mad, I got even.”
The Panther Run was a perfect fit for her group, Garland said, because they love to get out into nature and off the main highways. “We do a lot of long rides. You can really slow down and enjoy the scenery,” she said.
Dawn Barnes’ leather vest sported the ladies’ look, with “Extreme Curves” and a version of the club logo with eyeliner on a skull adorned by ponytails in pink ribbons, as she saddled up to ride with John Bell.
Garland’s own vest was embroidered with pink wings flanking the skull and crossbones, and patches including “Heavily medicated for your protection,” “Born to be wild,” and “Caution: does not play well with others.”
Another group of bikers on a run from the east coast was due in for the afternoon festivities, with a live band set to play in the space between the Harley-Davidson dealership and Hooters. One biker who came a long way to be part of the Panther Prowl Poker Run was corrections officer Andy Alexander, who rode over from Avon Park with his wife.
Friends of the panther refuge president Lisa Östberg bustled around keeping things running smoothly, assisted by Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge park ranger Sandy Mickey, and volunteers Art and Rosemary Renger.
The 108-mile run took the bikers through much of the habitat of the Florida panther. Based on radio tracking, the map bikers were given showed the actual territory of a number of individual cats, many of them straddling both sides of the highways. Considered to be one of the world’s most endangered species, only about 100 panthers remain in the wild.
For Saturday’s ride, the wildlife viewing opportunities included stops at Jason’s Tiki Bar & Grill on the East Trail, the Seminole Indian Casino in Immokalee, and Zookie’s Sports Pub & Grill in Naples in addition to the Panther Refuge itself, before finishing up the event at Harley-Davidson, and Hooters next door.
At each station, riders received one card from a set just created by the Panther Refuge, showing features of the 26,400-acre reserve at the intersection of Interstate 75 and State Road 29. When they finished the run, they exchanged their cards for five regular playing cards, with the highest hand winning a two-night stay at the Ritz-Carlton Naples Golf Resort.
Florida panthers once roamed the entire southeastern U.S., but are now found only in Florida, with the sole breeding population located in Southwest Florida. In 2009, the panther population suffered its worst year for road-kill mortalities, with 17 panthers killed by vehicles.
For more information on the Florida panther and the Friends of the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge, email info@floridapanther.org, or call 239-642-5472.
© 2010 Scripps Newspaper Group — Online
No comments:
Post a Comment